The US astronaut Jeanette Epps has been removed from her upcoming mission to the International Space Station (ISS) just months before launch.
Dr Epps was to have been the first African-American astronaut assigned to the space station crew.
She would have flown aboard a Russian Soyuz flight in June but is being replaced by another astronaut.
Nasa has not given a reason for withdrawing her but says she will be considered for future missions.
Jeanette Epps, born in Syracuse, completed a doctorate in aerospace engineering in 2000. After graduating, she worked in a laboratory for two years before being recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
She worked as a technical intelligence officer for seven years before being selected as a member of Nasa's 2009 astronaut class. Her time with the CIA included deployments to Iraq.
Image copyright NASA Image caption The Syracuse-born astronaut was to have flown to the space station in June
Image copyright NASA Image caption Dr Epps will be replaced by Serena Auñón-Chancellor, who has worked with space station crew members in Russia
In an interview with Elle magazine last year, Dr Epps said: "I get very excited when I think about being up in space, partly because I compare it to going into a war zone.
"Both are very dangerous but, for me, it's a no-brainer: I would rather face the dangers in space than go back to a war zone."
She added: "When people come back from space, I see how much they want to go again."
Dr Epps was due to launch to the orbiting outpost from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, along with the German European Space Agency (Esa) astronaut Alexander Gerst and the flight's commander, Russian cosmonaut Sergei Prokopev.
Nasa offered no reason for the decision to remove her from the Expedition 56/57 mission. In a statement, they said she would "return to Nasa's Johnson Space Center in Houston to assume duties in the Astronaut Office".
Her replacement, Serena Auñón-Chancellor, is a medical doctor from Fort Collins, Colorado. Dr Auñón-Chancellor previously spent more than nine months in Russia supporting medical operations for space station crew members.
stompinstinker on January 19th, 2018 at 18:36 UTC »
If you read Chris Hadfield’s book, it talks about how easy it is get dropped for anything. Particularly health related. They understand this, and it’s not like it is the end of her NASA career. They do all kinds of other things, like help other astronauts train, plan missions, etc. She just had one task of many removed.
AlwaysColdAtWork on January 19th, 2018 at 17:44 UTC »
The last time I remember this happening a Korean Astro was removed from an ISS mission for accidentally removing a classified Soyuz flight manual from the training center and taking it home. Something like that. Happened a couple years ago.
lightknight7777 on January 19th, 2018 at 16:36 UTC »
Maybe they cleared an experiment or two to go with them that might be better suited for an MD than an engineer? Could be a medical issue for the engineer that they can't publicly disclose.